| Come April 2009, one will be able to withdraw money from the ATMs of any bank without shelling out any fee for the same, as per the new circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) yesterday.
From April this year to March next year, one will have to pay Rs20 for every transaction carried out using the ATMs of other banks, the RBI says in its draft circular published on its web site.
No bank should increase the charges prevailing as on Dec. 23, 2007 i.e. the date when the RBI first came out with its approach paper on ATM. Banks which are charging more than Rs20 per transaction should reduce it to a maximum of Rs20 by March 31.
The central bank says that the charge of Rs20 indicated will be all inclusive and no other charges will be levied under any other head.
The RBI has also stipulated that banks should not charge any fee from customers using their own bank’s ATM. Also, all balance enquiry transactions through other banks’ ATMs should be available free.
Banks can, however, levy charges for withdrawals using credit cards and from ATMs located overseas, the RBI says. India has 32,342 ATMs as of December 2007, according to the RBI.
The central bank has rejected banks’ plea to cap the number of free cash withdrawals every month by saying that such a cap is not desirable and not practical.
The RBI has also rejected the other suggestions made by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and banks like permitting third-party advertisement on ATMs, white-label ATMs, cash withdrawal at the point of sale.
While noting that the charges levied on the customers vary from bank to bank and according to the ATM network used for the transaction, the RBI says that a customer is not aware, before hand, of the charges that will be levied for a particular ATM transaction, while using an ATM of another bank.
This generally discourages the customer from using the ATMs of other banks, the RBI says in the circular. It is, therefore, essential to ensure greater transparency, the central bank adds.
The RBI also notes that in countries like the UK, Germany and France, customers have access to all ATMs free of charge except when cash is withdrawn for white label ATMs or from ATMs managed by non-bank entities.
source: google news
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http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com
Tags:april09 bank blogs: ATM free use General MONEY RBI |
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